Wire fence



(No Model.)

E. F. SHBLLABERGER.

WIRE FENCE.

No. 572,317. 4Pan'mmed Dec. 1, 1896vr I" W WJ UNITED; STATES" PATENTOFFICE.

` V'EDWARD F. SHELLABERGER, OF DE KALB, ILLINOIS.

WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters 'Patent No. 572,317, datedDecember 1, 1896.

Application iiled August 1, 1894. Serial No. 519,162. (No model.) i

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD F. SHELLA- BERGER, of De Kalb, Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Wire Fences, of whichthe following is a specificaploy a plurality of wires, usually two,twisted together into a cable for the longitudinal strands of the fencefabric, and in order to prevent the sagging or separation of theselongitudinal cable-strands it is desirable to connect them transverselyby the stay or tie wires. This has previously been done in many ways,but the most efficient methods are those in which the connection betweenthe tie-wires and the cable-wires will permit the cables to stretch ordraw freely without bending or buckling the tie-wires, and to this endthe connection between the tie-wires and the cables must be sufficientlyfree to permit this stretching over uneven ground, while at the sametime preventing the tie-wires from moving longitudinally upon the cablesand the cables from moving vertically upon the tie-wires.

My invention consists in a wire fencing comprising a series of parallelcables and a series of stay-wires, each stay-wire having open eyes orloops with end portions passing by each other in opposite directions,thebodies of the eyes or loops being substantially in the plane of the bodyof the strip and the cablestrands being partially embraced between thecurved portions and the end portions of said open eyes or loops. Thisprovides a looselyinterlocked joint, in which the open eyes form arches,which when strain is put upon the tie wires, as, for example, by weightthrown upon the strand-wires, `the pull is upon the arch and directlyupon the strandwire beneath it. The result of this is that such a straintends to close the loop or eye upon the cable.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l shows a section of this fencingwith the staywires each having loops embracing the several cables at thepoint of intersection, and Fig. la a detail of the same. Fig. 2 showsthe fence applied.

In the drawings, A represents the longitudinal cable-strands, eachcomposed of two wires c a, which are twisted together and which areintended to be secured to posts7 as B, Fig. 2. It is desirable at alltimes to maintain parallelism between the cables a a, and to this endthere is employed a series of transverse stay-wires C, which areprovided between their ends andat suitable intervals, corresponding tothe distances between the cable-wires, with open loops or eyes c, and attheir ends said pickets may be engaged in various ways with the top andbottom strands, as shown in Fig. l.

As shown in Figs. l and 2, these loops or eyes do not completelyencircle either of the cable-strands; but it will be observed byreferring to the detail, Fig. l, that one half of the loop or eyeembraces one of the strands of the cable and the other half of the loopembraces the other strand. The open eyes permit the strand-wires toenter, while the end portions of the open eyes pass by each other inopposite directions and the body of the loop or eye is substantially inthe plane of the fabric, thus making avery strong but loosely-Wovenjoint. It will be seen, however, that this construction will prevent,any movement of the cables vertically alonggthe tie-wires, while themovement of thetie-wi'res along the cables is prevented by the twisti gof the latter on opposite sides of the loo The joint is so loose thatthe fence wi l stretch up over uneven ground or risinfr ground, as shownin Fig. 2, without bucklin or bending the tie-wires, while theparallelism is maintained between the several cables f the fence andalso between the several tiewires.

This fence can be very rapidly made, and the peculiar form of loop has anumber of advantages in manufacture which are of considerableimportance.

IOO

be observed, however, that in my construetion the loosely-interlockedportions are arranged substantially in the plane of the fenc. ing, Whilein said patented construction the interlo'cked portions are arrangedsubstan tially at right angles-to that plane.

I clai1nyA Wire fencing comprising aseries of parallel cables `and aseries of stay-Wires, each stay-Wire having open eyes With end portionspassing by each other in opposite directions, substantially in line withthe body of the vstrip,'the cable-'strands vbeing partially einbracedbetween the curved portions and the end portions of the open eyes, asand for the upurpose set forth.

EDWARD F. SHELLABERGER. Witnesses:

C. C. LINCLHICUM,

FREDERICK C. GOODWIN.

